Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Proposed Cuts to Water Revolving Fund Prompt Calls for Establishing Trust Fund
The Bush administration's proposed cuts to the clean water state revolving
fund in fiscal year 2006 prompted renewed calls by municipal officials for a
trust fund to help pay for water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades.
The $7.6 billion budget request for the Environmental Protection Agency would
cut the clean water SRF from $1.1 billion to $730 million, the lowest level
sought for the fund in nearly a decade (25 DEN A-7, 2/8/04 ).
Previous budget proposals have typically sought about $800 million for the state
revolving fund, and Congress has repeatedly bumped that figure up to $1.35
billion.
The $1.1 billion appropriated in fiscal 2005 surprised some state and local
officials because support for the SRF in Congress has been strong.
State revolving fund money is allocated to the states based on a formula in the
Clean Water Act. States use the funding to make low-interest loans to
communities for infrastructure construction and improvements. The money may n
also be used by states to implement a variety of Clean Water Act programs,
including controls on nonpoint sources of pollution.
Precedents Set in Other Areas
The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies said the proposed cuts
demonstrate the need for a trust fund to pay for infrastructure.
"Facing similar shortfalls in funding for critical national infrastructure,
Congress has established trust funds supported by dedicated revenue sources,"
AMSA said in a statement. "Congressionally established trust funds for highway
infrastructure ($30 billion/year) and airport infrastructure ($8 billion/year)
provide a strong precedent for moving forward with a similar trust fund for
clean and safe water."
EPA officials defended the cuts to the state revolving fund, saying the agency
is still on target to meet its goal of having the fund revolve at $3.4 billion
by 2011. The administration proposed $850 million for the drinking water SRF,
the same as current year funding.
While funding for the state revolving fund is declining somewhat, targeted
funding for water and sewer projects through congressional earmarks continues to
rise. In fiscal year 2005, Congress tacked on 873 projects totaling $488.2
million, most of them for water and sewer infrastructure.
AMSA has floated draft legislation authorizing a $45 billion trust fund over
five years that would include $3 billion annually in grants and $2 billion in
loans for clean water programs and $1.5 billion each for grants and loans for
drinking water programs. The legislation would pay for the fund through a bottle
tax (226 DEN A-2, 11/24/04 ).
EPA has estimated an infrastructure funding gap of about $535 billion over 20
years. Municipal organizations said they think the gap is higher and may
increase without more federal money.
"Without a long-term, sustainable federal-state-local partnership, communities
will not be able to tackle essential capital replacement projects needed to meet
federal Clean Water Act mandates and improve the quality of the nation's
waters," Ken Kirk, AMSA's executive director, said.
Other Clean Water Act Programs
Other Clean Water Act programs would be funded at levels comparable to the
current year. For example, the administration proposed $209 million for Section
319 grants, money used for nonpoint source pollution controls. This is the level
Congress appropriated for fiscal 2004, but it is down from the $238 million that
had been made available in the two previous years.
Funding under Clean Water Act Section 106, which covers numerous pollution
control programs administered by the states, including the permitting programs,
would increase to $232 million under the request, an increase of $10 million
from the previous request and $22 million over the current year funding.
The Chesapeake Bay program would receive $20.7 million, about the same as the
current level.
The administration announced Feb. 4 it was seeking $50 million to clean up the
Great Lakes from toxic pollution (24 DEN A-3, 02/7/05 ). Congress has generally
appropriated about half the requested amount.
The request zeroes out funding under Clean Water Act Section 104(b), which
usually pays for innovative projects, one state official said. In recent years,
funding has been about $18 million.
By Susan Bruninga